Friday, December 1, 2017

Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark

This is hands down one of the most inspirational business books I've ever read, on par with Shoe Dog by Phil Knight and Onward by Howard Schultz. The author Duncan Clark has known Jack for a long time and has put together a memoir of how Alibaba came to be the behemoth it is today.

As a budding entrepreneur myself, I feel a kindred spirit in Jack Ma. His fearless attitude and convincing charm christened "Jack Magic" is something that I must learn from in the cut-throat business world.

Having failed the Chinese national examinations (高考) twice, Jack succeeded on his third try only to end up in a third tier university. He did well and became an English teacher. But it was not long before the business bug bit and he set up his first company - Hope. He still held his full-time job and worked after school on his baby. It was a translation service that didn't do so well.

Alibaba was his third company and it was through a mixture of luck, guts, and hard work that it has become the success it is today.

This book is a real page-turner and I finished reading it within a day. It was that gripping.

I now have a better understanding of how Alibaba may soon dominate the world, perhaps even surpassing eBay and Amazon in due time. This book has given me a clearer insight into the three largest Chinese Internet companies that are dominating the market today - Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.

I must say that the author has done some solid research and I'm full of praise for the impressive book he's published.

This is a book every aspiring business person ought to read and I'm sure you'll be just as inspired as I have been at the end of the book.

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